Graduate College/Graduate Student Senate Grants

The Graduate College, in collaboration with Graduate Student Senate, offers current graduate students two grant opportunities to support their research, scholarship and creative activities.

Original Work Grant

The Original Work Grant (OWG) supports research and creative work. It is intended to fund direct, project-related expenses such as travel, lodging, materials and equipment related to research. Any graduate student enrolled for at least 1 credit hour and pursuing a graduate degree at Ohio University can apply for this grant.

• Guidelines and Proposal Preparation Instructions
• Signature Sheet
• Submission Check Sheet
• Example of a successful Biomedical Sciences proposal submitted by a Doctoral Student.
• Example of a successful Environmental and Plant Biology proposal submitted by a Master's Student.
• Example of a successful History proposal submitted by a Doctoral Student.

Travel Award

The Travel Award (TA) supports travel to present original work, including research and creative works. The Travel Award is intended to enhance graduate education through participation in seminars, workshops and conferences, fostering professional development to further students’ careers. The award attempts to cover a majority of the costs associated with such travel.

• Proposal Submission Guidelines
• Signature Sheet

Deadlines

Proposal for the Original Work Grant are accepted twice a year (September and February), while Travel Award applications are accepted three times a year (October, March and June). The table below shows the deadlines for each call, as well as the anticipated decision date and window for expending the funds.

Grant	Deadline	Decision Date	Funds Available	Closing Date
Fall OWG	15-Sep	30-Oct	1-Nov	30-Apr
Spring OWG	14-Feb	30-Mar	1-Apr	31-Oct
Fall TA	20-Oct	30-Oct	1-Nov	30-Apr
Spring TA	20-Mar	30-Mar	1-Apr	30-Sep
Summer TA	20-Jun	30-Jun	1-Jul	31-Dec

 

For example, if you are applying to attend a conference in March, you should apply to the Fall Award call for proposals.

Submission Process

All proposals must be submitted through the following links. To submit a proposal:

1. Download and review all of the materials provided above. 
2. Prepare your proposal document as described and convert to a PDF. Please note -  your document will be converted to Word for the formatting compliance check, so be sure to check that your document follows the guidelines outlined above (e.g., 11-point font size, double-spaced, with at least 1-inch margins).
3. Complete the signature sheet, obtain all signatures, and scan into a PDF.
4. Select the appropriate link, complete the forms, and upload the two PDF documents when prompted. Please use the following guide for naming your proposal and signature sheet documents:
   • Proposal Naming Convention for Original Work Grant (OWG) or Travel Award (TA):
     First Name Last Name.Initials of Grant/Award.Term of Application.Year
     (e.g., Jane Doe.OWG.Fall.2018 or John Smith.TA.Spring.2019) and
   • Signature Sheet Naming Convention for Original Work Grant (OWG) or Travel Award (TA): 
     First Name Last Name.Signature Sheet.Initials of Grant/Award.Term of Application.Year
     (e.g., Jane Doe.Signature Sheet.OWG.Fall.2018 or John Smith.Signature Sheet.TA.Spring.2019).

• Original Work Grant (OWG) Submission Link
• Travel Award Submission (TA) Link

Review Process

The review process differs for the OWG and TA submissions. 

• Travel Awards are awarded on a purely random selection. All proposals meeting the requirements outlined in the guidelines are entered into a lottery. Those selected will be contacted by the Graduate College and disbursement of the funds will be coordinated by the academic department. 
• Original Work Grants are awarded by a review committee of graduate students. The Graduate Student Senate will submit to the Graduate College a slate of nominees to serve on the review committee. The committee will forward the proposals to be funded, in ranked order, to the Graduate College. The Graduate College will award proposers, in ranked order, until all available monies in the award pool are expended. Disbursement of the funds will be coordinated by the academic department.

Any monies not expended by the recipient by the close of the award window (Closing Date) will be returned to the Graduate College and placed into the award pool for a subsequent award cycle.

Final Report

All recipients must provide a final report by the close of the award window. The report will be collected via a web form, and detail how the monies were spent. Failure to submit a final report will disqualify the recipient for future awards and may disqualify students from the academic department from receiving future awards. Before completing the Final Report, review the needed information below.

• Final Report Link 

Information needed in the final report includes the following:

1. Type, term, and year of award, and
2.  A single PDF detailing your expenses and how the grant/award helped your research/work as a graduate student (2-page maximum). Please use the following guide when naming your final report:
   
   Final Report Naming Convention for Original Work Grant (OWG) or Travel Award (TA): 
   Last Name.Final Report.Initials of Grant/Award.Term of Application.Year
   (e.g., Jane Doe.Final Report.OWG.Fall.2018 or John Smith.Final Report.TA.Spring.2019).

Questions

Email any questions to gssgrantreview@ohio.edu or call the Graduate College at 740.593.2800.